Gunman kills 2, takes own life at Long Beach
Why
A gunman opened fire at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center today, killing two workers and then taking his own life as frightened onlookers watched outside the emergency room. The shooting occurred just before noon at the Atlantic Avenue hospital, which was immediately sealed off by police. A source told The Times that the gunman first shot a pharmacy manager several times in the head and then ran through the hospital wielding at least two guns, searching for a second man. He eventually caught up with that man and shot him multiple times, the source said. Laura Harris, 64, said she was driving in front of the emergency room when the gunman walked in front of her car toward the pharmacy across the street. Harris said that she slowed down and that as he crossed the street, he pulled out a gun and approached a man standing near the pharmacy. She said the gunman shot the victim "in the leg, he fell, and [the gunman] stood over him and shot him again." Harris said he then put the gun under his chin. "I don't know if he tried to shoot or if he was making up his mind," she said. But then, she said, he moved the gun away from his chin and began pacing, as if frustrated. She said he repeated the movement, "then he put [the gun] to his head, and you could see the blood splatter backwards." Amanda Carmichael, 30, said she had fallen asleep in the emergency room waiting room and woke to see people running and yelling, "They're shooting at the front. There's a shooter at the front. Everybody get out." Carmichael said her daughter Cadance, 5, was at the window looking outside at the scene of the shooting. She said she jumped over several rows of chairs, grabbed her daughter by the back of her jacket and pulled her down. Carmichael said she heard one shot and "then a whole bunch." She said the people in the emergency room opened the door to a side room and crawled inside and stayed there. She said that a few minutes later, one of the shooting victims was brought in on a gurney and taken into the operating room. Police said the gunman and victims were employees of the hospital. Long Beach Police Chief Anthony Batts said the motive of the shooting was still a mystery. "We do not know what the motive is at this time," Batts said. "We're still investigating. . . . However, I think this is a trend of active shooters that you've seen nationwide that has taken place with officers being lost in Oakland, where we lost four, and we had three officers lost in Pittsburgh. This is becoming a national trend probably because of the tension going on in our society today." Charity Perez, 31, said her husband, who works at the hospital as a valet, knew the gunman. "He was a great and wonderful guy," she said. "He was a nice guy and was always willing to help you." She said the gunman, whom she refused to identify, was married and had children. "He heard that there were going to be layoffs in June," Perez said, but said she did not know whether that was the motive for the shootings. Perez said her husband told her that the gunman shot two people, including his supervisor twice in the face, and eventually shot himself. She said the shootings took place in the rear of the hospital's pharmacy. The gunman was scheduled to start his noon shift at the time, she said. Perez said that about 12:30 p.m., she was dropping off her children at the hospital to be with their father when she noticed the police cars in the parking lot.
Search Terms:
long beach memorial hospital, long beach memorial shooting, long beach memorial hospital shooting, shooting at long beach memorial hospital, long beach hospital shooting, long beach memorial
References:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hospital-shooting17-2009apr17,http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/17/content_11196789.htm,http://sealbeachdaily.com/2009/04/16/three-shot-at-long-beach-memorial/,http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=10197250&nav=0RbQ,http://sealbeachdaily.com/2009/04/16/three-shot-at-long-beach-memorial/,http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/43131012.html
